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Alcohol and Other Drugs

Alcohol

If you don't drink, don't start. If you choose to drink,lower your risk .

Drinking alcohol can affect your
health and wellbeing.

Alcohol is a drug that is used often in social settings. Like other drugs, alcohol can change the way
we think, feel and act. The more you
drink on average per week, or on a single occasion, the greater your risk.

Heavy alcohol use is related to a number
of social problems including:

=violent crime

=unintended pregnancies

=the spread of sexually transmitted infections

=sexual assault

=child neglect/abuse

=intimate partner abuse

=unemployment

= failed
relationships

= homelessness

Harms from alcohol outweigh benefits.

Alcohol may
provide some health benefits for your heart but this continues to be debated.
If benefits do exist, they are mainly seen in people over 45 years of age. In
most cases, one drink of alcohol every other day is enough to achieve these
benefits. Amounts greater than this pose more risks and cancel out all the
benefits. If your goal is to improve your health, instead of drinking alcohol
you are better off to follow a healthy diet, get more exercise, and be a
non-smoker.

If
you choose to drink:

1.Know what a standard drink is and measure before you
pour so you know how many drinks you have had.

Smart Serve Responsible Alcohol Beverage Service
Training Program is approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
(AGCO) as a server training program for the Ontario hospitality industry.By law, all managers and servers must be
Smart Serve certified.You can take the
online course here, or contact
Northern College (705-567-9291 ext. 3264) or training@northern.on.ca)for their next in class date.

Local alcohol policies can promote a culture of
moderation, support community values, raise awareness of harms, influence
social norms and promote a healthier community.A Municipal Alcohol Policy (MAP) aligns with liquor laws and outlines
the appropriate use of alcohol on municipally owned and managed places and
spaces.For resources on how to develop
your MAP, check out the CAMH
guide or Public Health Ontario’s Steps
for developing a MAP

After
alcohol, cannabis is the most common drug found in dead and injured drivers.

Driving
while under the influence of cannabis is illegal. Cannabis affects how well you understand
distance, pay attention, concentrate and react. If you are suspected of driving
while impaired by cannabis, you can be charged in the same way you would with
alcohol.

Opioids are
classed as a depressant. This means that they slow down the part of the brain
that controls breathing and heart rate. Opioids are mainly used for their
sedative effects and to manage pain.
Other medical uses include control of coughs and diarrhea, and the
treatment of addiction to other opioids.

All opioids are dangerous when taken
in large amounts or when taken with other depressants, such as alcohol or
benzodiazepines.

Opioids can produce a mellow relaxed “high,” making them prone to abuse and addiction.
Some people inject opioids to increase the intensity of the “high”.

Using dirty needles and sharing needles carries a high risk
of infection and disease (e.g., HIV, hepatitis). When tablets or capsules are dissolved for
injection, non-drug substances contained in these products can permanently
damage veins and organs.

Fentanyl is a very powerful opioid that is
very cheap to produce. It is
increasingly being used in other drugs such as heroin and cocaine to increase
the potency of these drugs and has been pressed into tablet form to imitate
oxycontin. The user has no way to tell
whether fentanyl has been added, how much, or what their reaction might be.

Prevent Accidental Poisoning

Prescription
and over-the-counter medications are the third most commonly abused and misused
substances behind only alcohol and marijuana.
In 2015, approximately 12% of teens abused prescription drugs with the
majority of these teens obtaining the drugs from home.

When taken
improperly or abused, prescription medications are no safer than illegal
drugs. In fact, many dangerous and unpredictable
effects are associated with abusing prescription drugs including addiction,
overdose and death.

In order to
minimize the misuse and abuse of medication, it is recommended that
prescription and over-the counter medications be taken according to the
directions provided by a health care provider and only for the reasons the
medications were intended.

When
the wrong amount of medication is taken, or taken by someone it is not intended
for, poisoning can result. Even a small
amount of adult medication taken by a child can be fatal. Prescription and over-the-counter medications
are involved in two-thirds of unintentional poisonings in children under 18
years of age.

To prevent accidental poisoning, all medications
should be kept in a safe, secure location out of the reach of children. Any unused or outdated medication should be
discarded by returning them to a pharmacist for proper disposal. For information on the Medications Return
Program, please visit www.healthsteward.ca/sites/default/files/OMRPbrochure.pdf